Set within the growing literature on European economy in the late 18th and early 19th century, this book furnishes a “pre-history” to Norway’s rapid structural transformation and accelerated economic growth after the mid-nineteenth century. It argues that Norway in the long 18th century benefitted from an export-led growth, which exploited its abundant natural resources. The income from exports fuelled a substantial increase in consumption among rural households, while “pluriactivity”, a household strategy to balance market oriented production and consumption with self sufficiency in the insufficiently developed market succeeded in offering a “soft way” toward modern market society.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction 1 Hypothesis 2 Structure 3 Theory 4 Historiography of consumption in the early modern period 5 The methods used 6 The sources; their possibilities and challenges 2. Politics, Population and Production: Norway at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century 1 Politics 2 Population and social groups 2.1 Social differentiation 3 Production 3.1 Agriculture 3.2 The export trades 3.3 Pre-industrial manufacturing 4 Imports 5 Financial system 6 Conclusion 3. The Development of an Internal Market in Pre-industrial Norway 1 Internal market formation 2 Signs of market integration in Norway 3 The process of market integration in Norway 3.1 Transportation infrastructure 3.2 Jurisdictional change: the opening of trade 3.3 New retail forms: guesthouses and rural shops 4 Conclusion 4. Rural Households’ Allocation of Resources and Material Wealth 1 Norwegian rural farmers’ annual budget 1.1 Incomes 1.2 Expenditures 2 Material wealth seen through probate inventories 2.1 Wealth disparities as seen using probate inventories 2.2 Material wealth tied up in goods 3 General trends 4 Conclusion 5. Changing Trends in Housing, Furnishings and Smaller Household Goods 1 Comfort 1.1. Housing 1.2 Furnishings 1.3 Smaller household goods 2 How were the changes possible? 2.1 Predictability and security: taxation and rents 2.2 Breakability 3 Social and economic consequences 4 Conclusion 6. Bites, Nibbles, Sips and Puffs – New Foodstuffs in Rural Norway 1 From proteins to carbohydrates 2 The spread of exotic goods 2.1 Sugar and chocolate 2.2 Coffee and tea 2.3 Tobacco 2.4 Share of wages spent on exotic goods 2.5 Norwegian exotic goods consumption compared 3 The circumstances of the consumption 4 Conclusion 7. Conclusion: The Slow but Safe Path to a Market Economy